Risk Factors,Self-Attributions,and Adjustment Problems Among Victims of Sexual Coercion1

College women (N= 125) were surveyed about their experiences with sexual coercion. Forty-two percent of the sample reported one or more coercive incidents involving completed intercourse (26%) or attempted intercourse (16%). Only 6% of these incidents were reported to police or campus authorities. Of the victims, 92% knew their assailants, at least casually. A combination of demographic, sexual history, and personality characteristics predicted 21 % of the variance in experience with sexual coercion. The variables most highly associated with reported victimization were frequency of sexual activity and religiosity; women who were more sexually active and who attended religious services less often were more likely to report experiencing sexual coercion than were women who were less sexually active and who attended religious services more often. A combination of situational and attitudinal variables predicted 52% of the variance in victim attributions. The variables most highly correlated with attributions were degree of victim assertiveness and the type of force used by the assailant; less assertive women and women who had been coerced by the use of economic or psychological force made relatively more internal attributions about the coercion incidents they had been involved in than did women who were more assertive and women who had been coerced by means of physical force. Finally, a combination of situational and attitudinal variables predicted 34% of the variance in victim-reported adjustment problems following the coercion incident. The use of economic or psychological force, greater physical injury, and relative acceptance of interpersonal violence were associated with more severe adjustment problems, whereas the use of physical force, less physical injury, and relative rejection of interpersonal violence were associated with less severe adjustment problems. The implications of these results for the reduction of acquaintance assault and for the counseling of victims are discussed.